It seems to be the case nowadays that film audiences, particularly at this time of year as the summer winds down, are left with a choice of seeing the latest broad appeal movies filling the multiplexes, or venturing to the local independent cinema in search of more intellectual fare. Very rarely will a film transcend these boundaries and offer a mix of Hollywood-style action and arthouse flair, which is what makes Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive so unique and something to be celebrated.

Drive tells the story of an unnamed stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) moonlighting as a getaway driver for a crime syndicate run by Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks). Seemingly a loner, the driver becomes involved in the life of his neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son Benicio (Kaden Leos). After agreeing to drive for Irene's newly paroled husband Standard (Oscar Isaac), and finding himself on the wrong side of assassination contract, the driver embarks on a mission to protect Irene from the vicious gangsters who would seek to harm her to get at him. It's a well-worn plotline which in the hands of someone less adept than Refn would likely be nothing more than a forgettable thriller, yet the massively talented director, who picked up the Best Director prize at Cannes this year for Drive, crafts an engaging and thrilling throwback film elevated by masterful performances across the board.

Refn, previously known for the fantastic Bronson, and the lesser known but equally excellent Pusher trilogy, is a man who has very clearly studied his Kubrick. Certainly most modern directors could do worse than imitate the style of one of history's greats like Stanley Kubrick, but rarely does one pull it off with the skill of Refn. In Bronson, the influence was a little more obvious, with the resulting film seeming like something of a spiritual successor to A Clockwork Orange. With Drive however, the traces are a little more subtle, visible in the impeccable technical touches, and the use of diss

A truly great movie. Spoiler.... What I really liked is it goes against current Hollywood tradition of the main character kicking it because he off'd a few guys throught out the movie. That tradition is making movies very predictable these days.

I have mulled this film over all afternoon, it refuses to leave me. I couldn't decide for a long time if it was brilliant or awful. But ultimately what I realised is that I really enjoyed it. A lot. Ryan Gosling - and this is the first film of his I've ever watched - has incredible presence on the screen. I couldn't peel my eyes off him when he was on it, and I don't mean through attraction, but just because there was something about him. I could never tell if this was his character or him, but either way he was striking in this.

The soundtrack was excellent too, - soundtrack and the cinematography really gave the film such a distinctive feel.

And the violence was also pretty incredible because it happened in short, sharp bursts and was always heavily contrasted with the quiet directly preceding it. One of the most violent scenes happens seconds after one of the most tender, which just increases the general impact.

Anyway, like I said, Wow.

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"I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"

I have mulled this film over all afternoon, it refuses to leave me. I couldn't decide for a long time if it was brilliant or awful. But ultimately what I realised is that I really enjoyed it. A lot. Ryan Gosling - and this is the first film of his I've ever watched - has incredible presence on the screen. I couldn't peel my eyes off him when he was on it, and I don't mean through attraction, but just because there was something about him. I could never tell if this was his character or him, but either way he was striking in this.

I can see why it's not for everyone though. It is not an action packed film, full of car chases, explosions and people firing guns. Heck, it's not even a character piece really. Unlike most modern films the protagonist doesn't have his history or background explored at all.

Drive isn't really about driving either, but may be about the other meaning of drive meaning the will, or energy to do something.

It isn't made totally clear but protagonist in this film is apparently quite crazy, he is apparently unable to act normally or have normal conversations with people, this can be witnessed when he visits his pretty next door neighbor. Plus in his psychotic bursts of somewhat justified violence.

Like Sway, said the cinematography and soundtrack is excellent!

In short, it's A Man With No Name kind of story that harks back to Michael Mann 80's films, with a touch of European Arthouse.

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..."lost like tears in the rain....."

"He claims he is a man. And one of the things about being a man is getting knocked on your ass and learning from it."

I can see why it's not for everyone though. It is not an action packed film, full of car chases, explosions and people firing guns. Heck, it's not even a character piece really. Unlike most modern films the protagonist doesn't have his history or background explored at all.

Drive isn't really about driving either, but may be about the other meaning of drive meaning the will, or energy to do something.

It isn't made totally clear but protagonist in this film is apparently quite crazy, he is apparently unable to act normally or have normal conversations with people, this can be witnessed when he visits his pretty next door neighbor. Plus in his psychotic bursts of somewhat justified violence.

Like Sway, said the cinematography and soundtrack is excellent!

In short, it's A Man With No Name kind of story that harks back to Michael Mann 80's films, with a touch of European Arthouse.

I think the parts in bold combine to highlight why I was unsure about it for a long time during the film. It really refuses to be pigeon holed, nor am I even sure what genre to put this under. Truth be told I found the film very inconsistent in a number of regards - but all of this just 'worked' together. It's so utterly different from anything I've seen before. I just don't know what the focus is, but again, it's Gosling's character that has made the biggest impact. I can totally imagine that this will be a divisive film. I think you'll either love it or hate it, no middle of the road (if you pardon the pun) with this.

On another note, I watched a Guardian video interview with Refn and Gosling and the interviewer immediately puts it to Refn that it's a very feminine film.... He agrees. But for the life of me, I can't see how it can be described as feminine.

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"I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"

I have mulled this film over all afternoon, it refuses to leave me. I couldn't decide for a long time if it was brilliant or awful. But ultimately what I realised is that I really enjoyed it. A lot. Ryan Gosling - and this is the first film of his I've ever watched - has incredible presence on the screen. I couldn't peel my eyes off him when he was on it, and I don't mean through attraction, but just because there was something about him. I could never tell if this was his character or him, but either way he was striking in this.

You totally have to check out Half Nelson and Blue Valentine pronto.

Yeah I've been aware of his previous films because of the acclaim they've received, but they've just never been on my 'need to watch' list. I might check them out now.

< Message edited by Sway -- 24/9/2011 9:15:28 PM >

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"I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"

A fantastic film, which takes its time. It is a mood piece, much like the movies of Michael Mann - it also reminded me a lot of To Live and Die in LA which hasn't been mentioned much.

Like Refns other films, some of the best bits are the little touches. The look of disdain a blonde woman has at a crappy looking party, the way the lights of the city hit a car. The music, oh my goodness the music. It all builds a mood. The plot is there, and isn't the most unqiue story, but it isn't about that. The story is the ledge from which these characters hang, and it is about getting into the head of the nameless Driver.

A great film - one of the years best.

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It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

What struck me about Drive was how much the plot also owed to earlier exploitation movies which were being produced in the 1970s. A lot is being made about how the film connects in with Thief, and Leone, and To Live and Die in LA (which has been overlooked I feel when considering this film) but it has it also has its roots firmly placed in 70s exploitation. I am thinking of movies such as the Outside Man, or Sitting Target.

It also has a lot of links to the movies being made in the 1980s by the Cannon Group and Golan/Globus – stripped down crime movies, with ultra-violence and heroes who speak through action, and not words. Not to mention the LA setting.

One key moment in this film reminded me a lot, about a Charles Bronson movie from the 1980s, entitled Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects. People who have seen both films will know what I am talking about here.

There is a strong clue about this connection in the film itself – Albert Brooks basically plays a character that made these types of pictures. It made me laugh seeing him describe what he did in a previous life and the joke about "European Films” in there as well.

The use of violence is interesting. And I am actually surprised at how restrained it all was in retrospect. When reviews have been talking about the ultra-violence, it seemed pretty restrained for most of the time. Those moments where it was shown were used to illustrate a point about the characters.

We see the Driver demonstrate how he can take a life. After that sequence, when he next does it, it is shot in the distance. The audience doesn't need to witness it again. The film uses the violence to show that these are dangerous men, and once established, it happens again, we use our imaginations to fill in the blanks.

What complements the film is a superb soundtrack. Is it just me or do most of the best modern films set in LA have electro/ synth soundtracks? Whatever the case may be, it just works. Again it is all about mood, and feeling.

Refn is also building on his own films. It is hard not to see this film as a spiritual brother of the Pusher trilogy. Those movies also dealt with the lower end of the criminal underworld. The guys who had money, but would never rise any higher. One of the great moments in Drive is seeing a party taking place at a pizza shop. Ron Perlman is in a smart suit and cracking up over something.

Next to him a pretty blond woman looks over with disdain. Anyone who has seen the Pusher films will recognise moments like that, where aspirations and reality collide.

But where the Pusher films had a "day in the life” flavour, Drive goes much bigger and broader in its outlook. It is a film first and foremost about mood. About the light bouncing off of a car, the way the sun beats the pavement, and those moments which you want to last a lifetime.

As to the character of the Driver – I don't believe he existed until the day he came to the garage looking for a job. It is as if nature itself created him fully formed on that day. He isn't a human being. He is a primal force. In fact in one scene there is zero difference between him and the killer Michael Meyers, from the Halloween films. His "face” in that scene I believe is a look at his soul. It is a blank canvas, expressionless. And that is terrifying. It is a moment from a horror film.

The Driver is not designed for any other purpose. He can only express himself through his wheels. Beyond that he barely reacts to the world. Look at how little notice he gives to the state of his jacket throughout the second half of the film. Some have suggested that Driver is being a gentleman when he is trying to woo Irene, an extension of the superhero idea.

I would suggest he simply doesn't know what to do. He has never been in this situation. He is not designed to be in this situation. It would be like taking a car into a lake and expecting it to skin across the water. It cannot work.

One of the best companion pieces for this film would in fact be Spielberg's Duel. In that the bad guy is a lorry. It has a driver, but they are the same thing. You stop thinking of it as someone driving the truck, and just think of it as a single entity. That is what Driver is to his cars.

At the end, I believe he comes to realise that, for as much as the car cannot move without him, he cannot move without the car. They are one and the same. Forever entwined.

< Message edited by Rgirvan44 -- 5/11/2011 3:10:18 PM >

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It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

Its great when a film you have been looking forward to manages to be all you hoped it was going to be and more.

Everything was perfect, the direction, the cinematography, the wonderful score which I raced out and bought right after, to the performances, the characterisation, the little moments, the mood, the atmosphere and at the centre of it, just owning the screen, Gosling whose performance is nothing short of perfection. Love the little smiles he gives at times in place of words he rarely speaks.

This and blue valentine are both in my top 5 films of the year, maybe he can make it a hat-trick with the ides of March.

< Message edited by MartinBlank76 -- 25/9/2011 3:40:48 PM >

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I'm just a fella. I think beer should be cold and boots should be dusty. I think 911 was bad. And freedom? Well, I think thats just a little bit better.

I'd also like to say that this is my film of the year so far. Pitch perfect acting, direction and special mention to the soundtrack. Awesome throughout. In a week, which I also saw Warrior and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it is Drive that has resonated with me the most. Finally I think this film could launch Gosling into the stratosphere. He is that good in this.

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As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!

I had a good week at the flicks too with tinker tailor and kill list very much impressing but this is on a whole other level. Just listening to the soundtrack as I type this and it almost transports you back into the world of Driver...

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I'm just a fella. I think beer should be cold and boots should be dusty. I think 911 was bad. And freedom? Well, I think thats just a little bit better.

I'd also like to say that this is my film of the year so far. Pitch perfect acting, direction and special mention to the soundtrack. Awesome throughout. In a week, which I also saw Warrior and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it is Drive that has resonated with me the most. Finally I think this film could launch Gosling into the stratosphere. He is that good in this.

I remember watching Bronson for the first time (I caught it on dvd, a couple of years after it was released at the cinema) and wondered why the hell Tom Hardy hadn't been catapaulted into mega fame on the back of that. Granted, he's on his way there now with Inception and Warrior behind him and the new Batman film underway, but it astonished me he wasn't given nearly enough credit for it. Although I do think it placed him a little more onto the radar.

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"I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"

I'd also like to say that this is my film of the year so far. Pitch perfect acting, direction and special mention to the soundtrack. Awesome throughout. In a week, which I also saw Warrior and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it is Drive that has resonated with me the most. Finally I think this film could launch Gosling into the stratosphere. He is that good in this.

I remember watching Bronson for the first time (I caught it on dvd, a couple of years after it was released at the cinema) and wondered why the hell Tom Hardy hadn't been catapaulted into mega fame on the back of that. Granted, he's on his way there now with Inception and Warrior behind him and the new Batman film underway, but it astonished me he wasn't given nearly enough credit for it. Although I do think it placed him a little more onto the radar.

I think Bronson was actully the thing that did it.

He may have got their sooner had it not been for a certain Star Trek film. It is funny seeing how the Band of Brothers class has been yielding these big names nowerdays.

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It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

I'd also like to say that this is my film of the year so far. Pitch perfect acting, direction and special mention to the soundtrack. Awesome throughout. In a week, which I also saw Warrior and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it is Drive that has resonated with me the most. Finally I think this film could launch Gosling into the stratosphere. He is that good in this.

I remember watching Bronson for the first time (I caught it on dvd, a couple of years after it was released at the cinema) and wondered why the hell Tom Hardy hadn't been catapaulted into mega fame on the back of that. Granted, he's on his way there now with Inception and Warrior behind him and the new Batman film underway, but it astonished me he wasn't given nearly enough credit for it. Although I do think it placed him a little more onto the radar.

I think Bronson was actully the thing that did it.

He may have got their sooner had it not been for a certain Star Trek film. It is funny seeing how the Band of Brothers class has been yielding these big names nowerdays.

As I say, I do think Bronson placed him on the radar, but for a more general audience I don't think people really became aware of him until Inception. I mean, even in the run up to Inception when I was speaking to my girl friends about him the majority of them were like, 'Who?'

I know, it's insane how many BoB actors have gone onto hit the big time. Although funnily enough I still think Doc Roe, Malarky and Winters are hotter in BoB than Janovec!

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"I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"

This is a nice looking plastic movie with plastic characters, and I like that. But it's another movie getting way over the top praise. It's wank-fodder for movie reviewers. Some nice touches such as the ex-husband not being a complete asshole, but in the main it's not surprising or subversive, some bits really don't add up, and the ultra-violence gets chronically boring. 3 stars for doing what it does well, pretty boy Gosling, and the retro feel.

Errr . . . they mention the Friedkin film in the Empire review. Can't get much past them!

"The exhilerating sensation is that Walter Hill or William Friedkin made an urban noir sometime back in 1986 and somehow you missed it (and it's easily as good as The Driver or To Live And Die In LA)."